Fate or Something
by It'sDemiNotLovato
Summary: It's just acting, isn't it? A certain Glee star falls for another co-star...


**Fate... or Something**

**Chapter 1 – Meetings**

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything from Glee (apart from my DVDs and CDs I bought with my own money) or any products mentioned below. I am not stating anything about the lives of these actors and actresses mentioned either.**

**Okay, just some stuff to deal with pre-story wise. Most of this story is AU and I know that some events mentioned in here are not accurate in comparison to real life. Also, Will Manning, Cassandra Philips, Adrianna Moore and possible other characters in this story are purely fictional. Anyway, enjoy!**

Perfection - there was no other word for it, well, her. She was sitting perched on the edge of the absurdly-coloured yellow chair, a crumpled and clearly worn piece of paper was grasped firmly in her hands. Her wavy blonde hair cascaded over her shoulders and barely hid a small frown gracing her features while her glossed lips were silently forming words.  
The concentration upon the girl - correction, women's - face became more apparent as Cory got closer to the yellow chairs at the end of the long corridor. He cautiously made his way around a coffee table crammed into the small area and cursed as he knocked over a polystyrene cup full of something hot.  
"Crap." Cory fumbled as the liquid spilt onto the floor and also the petite blonde woman's shoes.  
The woman jumped out of her reverie as she felt the hot liquid soak into her shoes.  
"I'm really sorry," Cory stuttered as he grabbed some serviettes out of a nearby dispenser and started dabbing at the (now obvious) coffee on the floor and the woman's shoes. He fully expected her to break into a rant about how many cows had died to provide these designer shoes, but was surprised by her real reaction.  
"It's fine," she spoke, breaking into a soft smile. "They're just cheap plastic ballet flats anyway."  
She folded up the piece of paper (which Cory saw from close-up were lines) as he stood up and - carefully this time - seated himself in the ugly yellow chair.  
"So," she said after a long silence that was clearly becoming awkward, "are you going to be a gentleman and introduce yourself?" A smile played on the blonde's lips.  
"Er, right," Cory replied, sitting up straighter in his chair and smiling slightly goofily. "I'm Cory Monteith, also known as the tall, awkward Canadian." He held his hand out for her to shake.  
The woman laughed - an infectious sound that immediately made the Canadian more comfortable as she took his hand. "Dianna Agron," she replied, "but I'm mostly known to my friends as just Dianna or Di."  
Cory nodded as his heart fluttered at the sound of her name. "So, uh, I take it you're here for the Glee auditions?" He asked, gesturing with his head to the closed wooden doors.  
A competitive smirk formed on Dianna's face. "You're looking at the soon-to-be, one and only Quinn Fabray."  
Cory grinned in disbelief. "No way! You're auditioning for my opposite?"  
"Finn Hudson?" Dianna asked, arching an eyebrow.  
"The hopeful, at least."  
"You better bring it then, Hudson," the blonde spoke, clearly reminding Cory of what he'd read about the head-cheerleader character. "Nervous?" She asked, giving him a sweeter smile that was clearly much more her.  
Cory chucked. "Well, look at it this way, it can't be any worse than my Sky High audition for Disney."  
Dianna looked sympathetic. "Oh no, what happened?"  
Cory couldn't help but grimace a little at the memory. "At first it was just the standard stuff, you know? I was nervous and forgot my lines, so they're like 'oh, you can just read from the script'. But I was so nervous I tried reading them upside-down. And then I couldn't read them... and then I threw up on the floor of their audition room."  
Dianna just stared at him, obviously not believing a word. "Really?"  
The Canadian nodded awkwardly and felt himself turning red. "Yep."  
Dianna stared for a little while longer and then a giggle escaped her lips. "That's pretty funny, actually."  
Cory cocked an eyebrow. "Oh yeah? Well, what if -"  
One of the double wooden doors opened suddenly and a small brunette woman emerged from the audition room. "Thank you," she called brightly and multiple replies echoed back.  
She winked at Dianna as she walked past. "I knocked it out of the park. Ryan's all warmed up for you. I'll wait in the car."  
"Thanks, Lea," Dianna giggled after her as the brunette started walking down the long hall.  
"Lea's my roommate," Dianna addressed the bewildered look on Cory's face.  
"Oh ri -"  
"Dianna Agron!" A voice called from the audition room, interrupting them once again.  
Dianna looked to the open door nervously.  
"Good luck," Cory offered with a smile. "Not that you'll really need it."  
"Thanks," the woman smiled softly and entered the other room.  
After Dianna disappeared, Cory dedicated himself to revising his lines. 20 minutes later, he was thinking he'd just got them perfect when the door opened again. She emerged with an emotionless look on her face.  
"So," Cory asked, feeling slightly nervous himself, "how did it go?"  
Dianna instantly looked crestfallen. "I was nervous, a-and I panicked..." Tears started to well in her eyes.  
"Hey, I'm sure it wasn't that bad." The Canadian stood up, unsure of how to comfort her.  
Suddenly, a grin broke across Dianna's face. "It actually went pretty amazing," she said, wiping away her fake tears. "Well, at least I think it did."  
Cory shook his head, chuckling. "Right now, I would be surprised if you didn't get the part."  
"Cory Monteith!"  
Dianna turned her head towards the direction where the sound came from. "It looks like you're wanted in the torture chamber." She turned back to Cory with a soft smile. "Good luck. If all goes well, maybe I'll have you spilling coffee on my shoes again sometime soon." Dianna placed a reassuring hand on his arm briefly before disappearing down the long hallway.  
Cory stood staring at the spot the blonde had stood in then shook his head to regain focus.  
"Right..." He muttered to himself before entering the audition room.

x-x-x-x

Dianna was anxiously pacing outside what appeared to be an office door with the name 'Cassandra Philips' engraved in a metal plaque on it. A dark-haired man with piercing blue eyes watched the restless blonde as she wrung her hands - a clear display of her nerves.  
"Di..." The man spoke up then paused thoughtfully, "I'm sure there's nothing to worry about. It's only some new break-out show anyway."  
Dianna turned, the skirts of her light-blue pleated dress swishing as she paced the room again. "You don't get it, Will. I just have this feeling. This could be something big."  
"Come here," Will said, sighing as he held his hand out.  
Dianna gently placed her hand in his as he pulled her onto his lap.  
"If you don't get this part then there's bound to be another big opportunity," Will reassured the blonde.  
Dianna couldn't help but bite her lower lip thoughtfully. Her agent had informed her there was two days until the filming for the pilot of Glee began and she was still fighting to get the name Dianna Agron into the opening credits. Apparently, the writers had even considered scrapping the character of Quinn Fabray because they couldn't find the perfect actress. She sighed and absentmindedly rubbed her forehead. "I know, I know," she replied in a reluctant tone. "If the pilot got picked up this could mean so many new things for me..."  
"Don't worry about it. A girl as beautiful as you is bound to make it in this business without a sweat."  
Dianna couldn't help but smile at this remark. She kissed her boyfriend's forehead softly, remembering how she fell in love with Will Manning. It was in this very place the two had met. Dianna had been awaiting a meeting about a guest appearance in the TV series 'Heroes' when will emerged from Cassandra's (her agent) office. One look at those clear blue eyes made Dianna's knees weak and two years later, minus a few attitude flaws, they were still going strong.  
"Thank you..." Dianna whispered, pulling her lips away as Cassandra exited from her office.  
"Well," the agent spoke up as Dianna stood up, clasping her hands nervously. "I have good news and bad news."  
"Bad news..." Echoed the blonde fearfully.  
"The bad news is... due to filming soon you won't star in the pilot much..." A smile grew on Cassandra's face.  
"Oh my God..."  
"But the good news is that you've landed the part!"  
Dianna screamed and immediately pulled her agent and boyfriend into an excited hug. Will quickly kissed his girlfriend's cheek as they all broke away and Cassandra suddenly looked at Dianna seriously.  
"You'll have time for celebrations later because the casting director also mentioned that a full cast meeting is being held as we speak. So we need to be get Quinn Fabray down to Paramount Studios A.S.A.P."  
Dianna couldn't help but smile excitedly at the prospect of possibly finally getting her big break. "Let's do this thing," she announced eagerly.

x-x-x-x

Cory couldn't help but scan the dance studio (also dubbed the Tin Shed) where the cast meet and greet was being held. He almost desperately looked for a familiar blonde head but it looked like it wasn't his lucky day. He sighed and headed over to the snack table laid out. Cory had just helped himself to a mini ham sandwich when he recognised the small woman standing next to him. "Lea?" He asked uncertainly.  
The brunette looked up from her phone and slowly smiled. "Hey... you're that guy who was at Dianna's audition, right?"  
"I'm starting to doubt whether anyone around here knows my name," Cory chuckled half-heartedly.  
Lea giggled. "Sorry. It's Cory, isn't it? Dianna told me I might want to watch out for you."  
Cory's heart leaped at the mention of the blonde. "She did? Do you know why?"  
"Mainly because you're supposed to be playing the potential love interest for my character, Rachel Berry."  
"Oh... right," Cory tried to hide his disappointment.  
"She also mentioned that you're a bit of a cute klutz." Lea laughed warmly. "I can definitely see that now considering you just lost half your sandwich on the floor."  
The Canadian smiled and quickly cleaned up his mess. "So, uh, do you know where your friend is?" He asked after he'd straightened up again.  
Lea looked down to her phone. "She messaged me something about a meeting with her agent. Apparently Ryan, Ian and Brad never got back to her about the part of Quinn Fabray."  
Cory opened his mouth to say something when suddenly a round of applause came from near the door. Using the advantage of his height, Cory quickly looked in that direction and saw something that instantly made a smile grown on his face. A familiar blonde was smiling broadly as Ryan called over the quiet conversations throughout the room.  
"Can I have your attention everybody?" He raised his voice slightly. "Thanks to the persistence and insistence of a certain actress and agent," Ryan nodded to a red-head woman standing next to Dianna, "I am happy to announce that Glee finally has it's Quinn Fabray. Everyone I would like you to meet the lovely Dianna Agron."  
Dianna smiled and made a quiet joke that made the front of the room break out into ripples of laughter before Ryan spoke up again.  
"Now please, eat, drink and get friendly with each other because we will be spending a lot of time together in the next few months. Thank you."  
The crowd returned to it's normal chatter as Ryan disappeared.  
"That was one hell of an introduction. Makes me wish I'd been cast late," Cory joked to Lea as another voice exclaimed excitedly.  
"Oh my God, Lea, I got the part!" Dianna beamingly hugged her best friend before noticing the tall man next to her. "Well, hello, stranger. Come to spill coffee on me again, tall awkward Canadian?" She giggled at her own joke before kissing Cory on the cheek. "I'm glad to see you made the cut."  
Cory smiled genuinely. "Likewise. I don't think Glee would be the same without you." He mentally kicked himself as Dianna gazed at him curiously. "I mean, what's high school without a mean head-cheerleader, right?" Cory stammered.  
The blonde smiled again. "True." She gently nudged Lea's arm. "I'm all up for making Rachel Berry's life a misery." The other girl looked knowingly back at her with a smile.  
"Well," Lea spoke up, "I think I'll let you two get your Quinn and Finn on while I go and quiz Chris on his Broadway knowledge again."  
Dianna turned to smile at Cory as her friend walked off. "So how have things been? Working on your clumsiness, I hope?"  
Cory chuckled. "Come on, I can't be that-"  
"Cory! Dianna! You're the two people I've been hoping to catch," Ryan Murphy quickly made his way over to them. "I don't mean to interrupt, but I just wanted to let you know you'll be filming Scene 18 on Monday morning."  
The two actors nodded. "That's all good with me," Cory replied, inwardly trying to contain his smile.  
Ryan smiled slightly. "Good, I'll see you two on set then," he said before walking away to speak to one of the writers.  
"Well, this should be interesting," Cory said, helping himself to another sandwich. "It's a great way for us to get to know each other," he joked.  
Dianna looked at him in confusion. "What do you mean?"  
"You haven't seen the script yet so you probably don't know, but Scene 18 is a kissing scene... for Finn and Quinn," he added as an afterthought.  
Dianna did her familiar competitive Quinn smirk. "Bring it."  
Cory's heart involuntarily leaped at her eagerness.  
It wasn't that he liked her or anything...  
He really liked her a lot.

**I promise the next chapter for A Gleeful Romance will be up soon, I'm just struggling to find some inspiration so hopefully this story worked as a substitute instead.**


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